Electrifying Vision
by power ballad contest
Summary: Biloxi, Mississippi, 1920. Mary Alice Brandon has been abandoned by her human family, and committed to an asylum to undergo electroshock therapy in an effort to purge her mind of her visions. During one of her treatment sesions... continued inside


**Name of song and artist chosen:** Kix - Don't Close Your Eyes

**Title:** Electrifying Vision

**Word Count: **2069

**Rating:** M

**Pairing: **Alice

**Summary:** Biloxi, Mississippi, Alice Brandon has been abandoned by her human family, and committed to an asylum to undergo electroshock therapy in an effort to purge her mind of her visions. During one of her treatment sessions, she finds herself stuck between what she believes is real and what her mind forces her to relive. She faces a struggle of seeing the events before they happen, and being unable to stop the inevitable. But there is hope for Mary Alice yet, and it comes in the form of a vampire who will change her life forever.

**Disclaimer:** Some moments of violence due to the nature of Alice's condition and situation as told in the Twilight Saga. Glimpses behind the scenes of life in the Asylum may not be suitable for all readers.

**Electrifying Vision **

I'd been in this room before. I recognized the mahogany crown molding that delicately trimmed the walls of this place. The way the rust colored paint seemed to peel and escape its home made me feel as though it would rather be swept away in the ashes then spend one more moment concealed in this tomb like structure. There was a stale odor to the air that reminded me of a funeral home, with traces of alcohol and formaldehyde lingering just under the surface, creating a heated and stagnant atmosphere. There was no light in this place save for the two beams coming from directly overhead. No windows would reveal any sense of false hope. My body reacted to the familiarity of this desolate wasteland, sending internal waves of caution blazing across my skin like wildfire.

I could see it all playing out like a well rehearsed scene. The count of the clock was steady in its rhythm, drawing out each daunting second with a deafening tick. Three seconds, four seconds, five, six. They seemed to drag on endlessly as the players took their stage. A nurse would appear within moments. She would be neatly dressed in her white cropped uniform complete with thick white stockings that clung to her skin like a spider would cling to its web. She would smile at the girl before her, and remind her that everything they did was for her own good. And time would continue to pass by in slow motion while the girl writhed in agony.

The room would soon bear witness to a silent torment, a whimper of desperation seeking only a safe haven for its suffering. Walls that were once the color of a mud creek after a Mississippi rainfall would soon be decorated in a sea of black feathers that trickled down to the chiseled linoleum at the cornerstone of this chilling scene. The nurse would place her clipboard at the edge of the wooden table as she conversed with the others who were gathered in secret. I couldn't bring myself to view the name that resided on the faded cream colored pages. The hushed whispers of those around me would give way once the second hand reached twelve.

My body twitched violently in response to the haunting images that somehow were invading my mind without permission. The sheer weight of these visions seemed to force my eyes open and closed, almost as if they had no will of their own, no power to defend themselves. A chill crept its way through me, sending shivers of unwanted desolation right though to the very soul that rested in my petite form, and for a moment I thought I heard a voice calling out to me in the darkness. _Don't give up.. Don't say goodbye…hold on_, the voice pleaded with me, but I could not echo a response.

There was a soft humming in the background of this otherwise barren room. It was a melody of sorts, perhaps a lullaby beckoning me to submit to its enchantments. It was the only constant presence in my mind beside the uncomfortable sensations that flooded through me in their terrifying attempt to warn of the danger. I didn't need to be warned though. I already knew this place, this prison. I'd been here so many times emotionally that I could even dictate the amount of breaths it would take to walk the length of the room. I could count each individual footstep, each solitary scratch of a hand, every nagging drum of the clock, and even the flutter of a moths wings as it occasionally bounced off the luminescent lighting fixtures above.

I concentrated on that now; the strum of its wings, and the way it seemed to be drawn to this artificial light above me. There was heat flowing through my body that I attributed to the presence of the moth. It was beautiful in a peculiar sort of way, with dust kissed wings that agilely carried its body weightlessly through the air. Magnificent really, to be able to fly away from those who seek to harm you. To be able to escape a captor with a mere change in direction if you so chose. I was envious of this creature, and as if it sensed my distress, it simply glided along the absent current towards me in what I hoped would be an effort to calm my writhing body. Then it vanished into the darkness, leaving me isolated and afraid once again.

The second hand hit its mark as my mind remained preoccupied with the disappearance of my only friend, and suddenly my world exploded into an array of madness. I could not obey the tiny voice within my mind that begged me not to close my eyes. The desperation of this voice stood no chance against the torment I'd so painfully had to endure time and time again. I could no longer tell if I was reliving the vision, or if time had finally caught up to me, creating my nightmare. Thump, thump, thump went my heart, keeping in perfect rhythm with the seconds that ticked by until even the beats of the clock faded into the distance. My skin was alive with the most sickening vibrations, a feeling that no human should ever have to endure. I was alone, and abandoned, with no memory of how I arrived at this juncture in the first place. I had no control over my body, no voice to call my own, no one to care about my silent screams for mercy. _I'm in here.. Can't you hear me… help….  
><em>  
>I prayed for time to hasten in its unrelenting pursuit to destroy me, and incredibly it obeyed, with the sounds of a creaking door, and a pair of footsteps that would soon bring a much stronger vision of my future. A vision of indescribable magnitude.<p>

"Leave the child be now. You've done enough damage for one day." A warm, low voice commanded from the doorway. The others immediately departed the room, almost as if they were afraid of this voice. I could see no reason to fear a voice such as this. It was calm, soothing, and yet held an underlying hint of power that even I had come to respect. I knew this voice.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek as my hands and feet were freed from the paddles that held me atop the table. Instinctively, I spit out the piece of wood that had been so mercilessly wedged between my teeth, and immediately began to sob from not only the pain, but also from the horrendous scene before me. The feathers that I had witnessed in my vision had not really been feathers at all. Instead, tendrils of my beautiful dark hair were scattered about the room like pieces of disposable refuse for the second time during my tenure in this forsaken place. They had taken almost everything from me, and as I reached up to run my fingers through the chopped strands of what was left of my hair, another heartbreaking cry escaped my lips.

"Shh child. I promise you this will never happen again." The man whispered, brushing his frigid hand across my cheekbone. "Had I known they were continuing to use this type of therapy on you, I would never have allowed them near. I will keep you safe. Just hold on and do not give up. Fight through the tears. I'm here, I'm here."

"I'm being punished." I whimpered. I'd already known these events would occur, it was the reason I was here in this horrific prison in the first place. What little memory I had left, I still knew I was being punished.

"There is nothing wrong with you Mary Alice. You have a unique gift. The world simply fears what it does not understand."

A smile began to form on my lips, just as it always did when he was close. Whether it stemmed from the vacant spaces of my memory, or from the tender way he consistently watched over me, I could not decide. I was simply grateful for his generosity.

"Can I go back to my room now?" I asked, surveying his onyx eyes with a mixture of expectancy and confusion. I knew this voice, but his eyes held no sense of familiarity.

Though I knew this stranger held no malice in his actions when it came to me, his eyes were a constant reminder of nature's deception. Perhaps it was a simple trick of the mind, or the faulty lighting which encapsulated these prison walls, that caused the slight crimson gleam to his otherwise darkened irises. Maybe I truly was insane, and belonged here amongst the patients of this hospital. Either way, his eyes were something that I could never fully grow accustomed to; always changing, never relinquishing their secrets.

"Not tonight, Mary Alice." He whispered once again, his lips only mere inches from my tiny smile. "I'm afraid it is no longer safe for you here. Put your trust in me. I will show you a world unlike anything you have ever seen before. A world where nothing can harm you. A world of unlimited resources. Do you trust me?"

"You have watched over me for a long time sir, and I don't even know your name. How can I trust you?" A small giggle escaped my lips as I answered this strangers peculiar question. That laughter faded the moment his face turned from its usual placid exterior to that of a stone warrior fighting to uphold the honor and safety of his beloved. Yet I was nothing to this man. I was simply someone he'd grown quite fond of, and I in turn, had come to favor him as my guardian of sorts. He had been a figure passing in the night at first, but as time progressed he became a friend, a confidant, and in many ways, still a stranger to me.

"My name is inconsequential, but I need you to trust in me, Mary Alice. I have never made such a request of you before." His voice seemed to drop a few octaves lower as he continued with a sense of urgency. "Another will come to steal the life that rightfully belongs to you. He will cast your soul to the skies above, and your laughter will never grace this world again. I promise you, with every fiber in my being, I will not allow this demon to endanger your life. Come with me. I will keep you safe."

His words had tumbled out in such a warming, gentle tone that I desperately needed to believe in them. His comfort was all I had to carry me through this torture. It was bad enough to have to live through the experience once, but when one can see it before it happens, the pain grows ten fold. There was a sense of peace in the air around this man, despite his foreboding words that lingered in my mind, and the fading ripples of pain that lessened with each gentle caress of his porcelain fingertips. My head bowed slightly in acceptance of his offer, the need for his words of protection overcoming any other emotions that brimmed at the surface of my heart.

"Your lullaby is yet to be sung, Mary Alice."

I was now in the stranger's calming embrace, though he was a stranger to me no longer. His body felt like ice, but there was still a warmth to him that lay just beneath the exterior. Even with those eyes that seemed to change like the passing seasons, he had managed to find a place in my heart after all. He had a sense of destiny about him, a purpose that I couldn't put my finger on. It was a destiny that I had somehow become entangled in without ever realizing our connection. I tried to capture a moment in my mind that would lead me to the outcome of my fate, of his fate, but I was too exhausted to make the attempt. Instead, a fragile version of my former self looked up into his dark, alluring eyes, and somehow I felt secure in the knowledge that he would change my life forever.

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